Train Romanticism
by occassionallywriting
Summary: A piece of fluff in which Andy's being adorable and Sharon tries to solve one of life's great mysteries. Features Nicole & her family. A S3 AU (see details in A/N) where Sharon & Andy are a newly established couple. As in sleeping together for months. Last chapter smut-ish.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _This was an off-cut of a story I wrote ages ago. Found it on my phone while I tried to edit "Ballet Heels" at work (yay for files not syncing)._

 _In this AU Sharon's having trouble with Feelings and Commitment but she dates and is very flirty. Rusty doesn't like people and is more amused than annoyed by Sharon and Andy dating. Nicole & Dean seem to love throwing parties and Sharon & Andy are among the regular guests.  
This AU started while season 2 was airing so it slowly veers off canon after The Wedding._

* * *

 **Train Romanticism**  
Part 1

It was the day after Christmas and the eve of a new tradition. Sharon's children were in their way back to their own lives, Rusty was in a chocolate coma in his own room and Andy's kids... Ah, Andy's kids. His son had only managed a drive- by his parents' but Nicole, Dean and the boys were back! The new family had conjured a complicated system to ensure no grandparent was left without attention. This year the Christmas day belonged to Dean's parents. Andy and Sharon were happy with scoring an after- Christmas party, especially since it came without a bitter ex-wife.

Yes, Andy thought contently as he watched Sharon getting ready in front of the bathroom mirror, this was good. Just him, Sharon, Nicole and Dean and the boys still excited by their new presents.

"Are you sure Rusty won't want to come?" he asked while Sharon started arranging her hair. She was only wearing her black underwear and he had trouble meeting her eyes. "Nicole invited him again."

She hummed. "You said. But he really wants to stay home alone. I do understand, he's always tied to me." She smiled critically at her reflection. If you could smile critically, Andy amended. Though if anyone could, it would be Sharon. "Besides I think he's still not comfortable around strangers. I know, I know," she said hastily, "Nicole is not a stranger, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Andy watched her shimmy into a slinky little black dress. Without a word she backed in front of his perch against the door jamb and started to work on her earrings. Andy took the hint with pleasure. The black fabric seemed like it was ink spreading over a wet paper as the zipper glided upwards. Her skin was soft and smooth and he wanted to lean forward to smell it. He didn't of course, but his fingers might have lingered around the tiny clasp of her bra. Even the fabric of the garment was thin and delicate and definitely not for everyday wear. It would only take a flick of one finger... He fought a shiver. "Shar, by any chance, you haven't forgotten we are just going to Nicole's, right?" She hummed. "I'm just asking." He gripped his right ear lobe. "Uh... Drinks? Dinner? Playing with the kids?"

Sharon turned around with a smile which was at least half laughter. "But it's Christmas!"

He stared at her expectant smile. "Uh... Let me guess. 'Where is my sense of occasion'?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Right. Well my sense of occasion will be right here waiting for you to lose that dress when we get back."

Sharon swatted his chest and started to walk towards her closet. At the threshold she threw a glance over her shoulder. "I'd like that."

Andy turned to watch her behind as she bent over to get some shoes. She took suspiciously long for that simple task, he thought, but refrained from commenting.

"Well, I'll check my calendar and see if I can pencil that in," he said sullenly. She was entirely too knowing of what he liked. This time the dress at least wasn't lace with strategically placed cut-outs to distract him even further. He still remembered that dress and how them shopping for it landed them in his bed for the first time. He also remembered the way she had managed a full conversation in double-entendres with his daughter while wearing said dress the day after.

Andy conveniently ignored the fact that it had all been in his head. Sharon should have known. Though, really, the coordinated way in which she straightened and looked at him made Andy sure she was to devious to put anything past her. And her chortled laugh didn't help.

Sharon passed him with her shoe selection in hand and made her way towards the bed.

"Hold on!" She paused at his accusing tone. "You are wearing those?"

Sharon glanced at the shoes. They were black stiletto heels with ballet style ankle straps complete with bows. "Yes?" she hazarded. Clearly it was not the right answer if Andy's exasperated look was anything to go by.

"Sharon, Sharon, Sharon..." he said disapprovingly as he ambled towards her. He pushed her back to sit on the bed and took the shoes from her fingers. Then he knelt down before her and pulled the shoes on her feet. As he fastened the straps, he kissed both of her ankles. "I think my sense of occasion is telling me to strongly consider being fashionably late. Hot girlfriends are so much trouble."

"Poor baby," Sharon giggled as his hands started to wander along her legs. "Well, maybe next time you should think of that before..." She paused and her look went from blank to the kind of smile you reserve for cute babies and adorable puppies climbing into cardboard boxes. "Oh Andy."

"What?" He looked dumbfounded.

"It's alright to be nervous," she said and reached to stroke his cheek.

"I'm not nervous!" His voice squeaked. "These are nice shoes."

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm not!" Andy started to caress her right leg like someone wanting something pretty big granted by the cat god and wishing a good petting might get him remembered. "You've got nice legs."

"Thank you, but can we get back on the issue at hand?"

"I'm handling the issue," he said cheekily and squeezed her calf. "Very nice issue in fact."

"Andy." She pulled her leg out of his hand. "I understand if you feel nervous and that is normal. It's very sweet, actually."

"I'm not nervous," he said obstinate. Sharon quirked a brow. "Why would you think I was?"

"Apart from you acting like women were a totally new concept to you?"

"I'm not! Why would you say that!"

She sighed. "You haven't left me out of your sight for ten seconds all day. You sorted my laundry while I was in the shower just to stay in the room!"

"Is it a crime to want to spend time with you?" Andy sulked.

"No, of course not. But if you study me any harder I'm starting to doubt I'm either not having all the regular bits or having something extra."

"Your bits are fine. Very fine." After a while he mumbled, "What if there's nothing to say?"

"Why wouldn't there be?"

He shrugged. "There's always been something to do. The ballet. The therapy. Something. And Sandra's always been there."

"Is that it?" Sharon asked. "What if they don't like me?" She tilted her head. "Do you want me to not..."

Andy looked at her horrified. "No, Sharon, no. They love you. It's not you." He turned to play with one of the bows on her shoes. "What if they don't like me."

"Oh, Andy." She took his head in her hands and raised his eyes to hers. "Why on earth would you think that?"

He shrugged.

"Nicole wants you there. She wants to have a relationship with you. And she wouldn't want that if she didn't care."

"Nicole is fine," he sighed. "What do I have to offer to kids? What about Dean? He knows I'm a screw-up. They've been off with their grandparents, probably in some winter wonderland and I don't even know anything about ballet!"

"Yes you do," Sharon said certainly. "And it doesn't matter if you don't. You are interested and making the effort to understand and that's all they want. Dean will see that, and he will see the effort you're making with Nicole. Give him a chance." She tapped his nose. "And you're their grandparent too, remember that."

"It's so easy for you. Everybody likes you," he grumbled.

She laughed a wholehearted laugh. "Well there's been no evidence of that this far."

"You're just laughing at me."

"A little bit, yes," Sharon admitted. "Andy, you're being silly. Dean accepted you from the get-go. The boys might not love you yet, but you'll get there. The more effort you put into that the sooner it will happen. Until then you'll have to be content with just me liking you, okay?"

He grumbled something unintelligible.

"I didn't quite catch that," she sing-songed.

"One must accept what is given," he sighed resigned.

Her melodious laughter filled the room before she softly pressed her lips against his. "I love you," she said more hesitantly than he would have liked. But that was only a sign of how much she meant it, he knew.

He responded by kissing her twice as hard.

"Um, didn't we agree it was Nicole's turn to suffer through all this kissy-giggly stuff today?"

Sharon and Andy parted with chuckles. Sharon patted his knee and helped him on his feet before walking into her closet for a coat.

"Sorry, Rusty," Andy said pushing his hands in his pockets with a grin that was not sorry at all, "we thought we should share the fun a little so as to not get blamed for playing favorites."

"Well, on this I'm happy to let Nicole be the favorite. Can't you two stop making out like for half an hour?"

"Did you want something before we go?" Sharon asked coming back in the room.

"No, not really. I wanted to use the bathroom, but the door was still locked."

"Oh, sorry, honey." Sharon backed in front of Andy again, this time for straightening her collar. "We're all ready, you can go in through here."

Andy patted Sharon's arms. She nodded and went to get her purse.

"Andy?" Rusty asked from the bathroom door. "You're going to take off that lipstick before you go, right?"

Andy scowled after the kid but went to a mirror. A little cherry lipstick... it wasn't that bad. He started rubbing it off.

"Ready?" Sharon appeared with her purse.

"Just a second." He took a Kleenex and rubbed the corner of his lips. "Apparently I'm not 'Winter'," he said.

Sharon looked in askance until he showed her the smudge on the tissue. She laughed.

"I'm crushed, tell you the truth," he said and threw the Kleenex away. "A guy tries everything, even a new lipstick, and only gets laughed at." He scooped a hand around her waist and walked her to his coat waiting in the rack beside the front door.

"You deserve it," Sharon said fixing his collar. She ended up with both of her hands on his chest. Watching him for a while, she said, "I've never laughed this much with anyone."

"Really?" Andy clasped his hands over hers. "None of your millions of men were stand-up comedians?"

The men Sharon had gone out with during the years had become a running gag between them after she finally told him. They were never anything serious; just friends and friends of friends, a fleet of first dates that never went anywhere, men she saw but who never saw her kids. She wasn't looking for that kind of commitment and it was a miracle she had let Andy in. Andy for his part was constantly more and more surprised she had chosen him: the list of her former dates included some pretty fine specimens over which even a heterosexual male could go a little gay. The only one he had (knowingly) met in person happened to be tall, dark, blue-eyed French speaking doctor. He still wasn't completely over that meeting and the name 'Edward' was known to set his teeth on edge.

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course I've been with comedians. But not a successful one in the bunch."

"Well that's at least something," Andy said gruffly. He reached for her scarf and as he slipped it around her neck, he laid a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you too."

She giggled, smiled and patted his chest. "Everything will be alright, you'll see."

"I'd like to believe that, but you're such an optimist." Sharon rolled her eyes again and called a bye to Rusty. She shoved Andy in the hallway and tried very hard to not laugh at his pouty mood. "Everything goes well for you. I never get anything good." Sharon laughed at him again, but slipped her arm around his. She wasn't going to get dragged into this pity party. But Andy tried anyway. "You'll see it will all crash and burn," he said as they stepped into the elevator. "Then you'll have to admit I was right."


	2. Chapter 2

All the way to Nicole's, Andy moaned about the unfairness of life. According to him everything was always set against him and he had no control over anything. Sharon tried to not get sucked into that conversation so she only made non-committal hums and watched the scenery go by. She knew to stay well out of it when he got in a mood like this. It would soon blow over: least said, sooner mended was definitely true of Andy's rants.

She tried to block out most of it. Instead she concentrated on thinking about the kids and how excited she was to see them. It had been a while, a month or so, if she was correct in her thinking. Of course they had been dancing on the Nutcracker before the Christmas, and Sharon had been there to see them, but the boys had been busy and so much little balls of energy that they had barely managed a hi and a bye. But properly Sharon had seen them... probably in November. They were such cute boys and Sharon had little opportunity to be around kids that age.

Not that she wished for grandkids of her own. God, no. Some days Sharon thought her kids were still kids themselves, especially when they were in the same city, or especially in the same house, together. Seemed like young people today were so accomplished, so smart and so educated but so much not grownups. They did things differently than her generation. Sharon did the marriage and small kids bit first as expected and her own, as accomplished as it turned out, career felt like just an afterthought. And now here she was, no marriage and little to do with family. Except for Rusty, of course. And he was moving on with his own life rather sooner than she wanted.

She sighed.

"You're not listening to me at all, are you?" Andy said a little hurt.

"Hm?" Sharon shook her head. At some point the car had stopped. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

It was Andy's turn to sigh deeply. "Yeah. I guess I'm being a little obsessed."

"A lot, you could say."

"But Sharon, you gotta admi—"

"I don't have to admit anything," she said raising a palm to stop his tirade. "You are being so obsessed about everything going badly that you are getting on my nerves. It is going to go badly if you expend all your energy on —"

"Okay. I get it," he interrupted her. "I get it, okay? But Sharon, I'm not good at this."

She reached over and cupped his cheek. "Andy, you are good at being yourself. That's all you need to worry about. Okay?"

"They probably didn't even like my Christmas present."

"Oh. My. F—" Sharon thumped her head on the seat's headrest. "Andy. For the love of God, the boys are five and seven. Five. And. Seven. If it's a Christmas present under a tree, it's a good present, okay?"

"But Sharon—"

"Andy, please, could you start your sentences other than 'but Sharon'?"

"Fine." He sulked for a moment. Then, "I didn't even understand what I bought them. It didn't seem fun."

"Andy," she said more soothingly, "you bought what they had on their list. Not only that, it was what Nicole and Dean recommended and to top that, you even took the trouble to choose the one thing they could do together. You did good."

"Fine, fine." He got out of the car and rounded it to open her door. "But I'm saying that kids that age... Maybe they don't know what they are asking for. Or their interests shift very quickly."

Sharon opened her mouth to say something. Something not necessarily all that nice. Her train of thought was cut off by the front door opening and two small boys ran at them.

"Granpa! We made stinky bombs on the kit! And we saw a reindeer! A real reindeer!"

On reaching they Sharon and Andy, each small boy grabbed one of Andy's knees in a hug. He had to grab Sharon's arm to keep his balance.

She raised a brow. A very meaningful brow. Oh alright, Andy thought, but the night was still very young.

"Did you really?" he said to the boys, ruffling their hair. "I didn't know you could make stinky bombs. Doesn't sound that good."

"It's awesome!" squealed the younger boy. "Mom nearly threw up!"

Nicole ambled behind the boys. "Yes, Dad, I'm really glad you got that set." She scrunched her nose as if the smell was still there. "Sharon," she said without the sarcasm and kissed her cheek. "It's so nice you could come."

Again Sharon was interrupted before a sound escaped her.

"Sharon," said the older boy and tightly grabbed her hand, "come see our lab!" He tugged at her. "Come on! It's in our room!"

"Hey buddy," Andy said reaching for the boy's other hand, "let's give Sharon a minute to say hi to your parents and all, okay? Then you can talk science with her all you want."

"Okay," the boy agreed unenthusiastic and let go of their hands.

His brother hugged Sharon's knees. "Hiya, Sharon."

She crouched down and hugged him back. "Hello, honey. You enjoying science too?

"Uh-huh."

"Grandpa Andy did good?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Go get the lab ready." Sharon got back up as the boys sprinted inside. "See?" she said.

"Yes, yes," Andy grouched as he slipped his arm around her waist and started herding her inside. "Don't be smug. It's so unappealing on you."

"Your father is having a little crisis of confidence," Sharon said leaning towards Nicole.

"My father? About 6'2", grey hair, ego so big it's a wonder he's allowed to cross bridges? That guy?"

"Yes," Sharon laughed and Andy rolled his eyes.

"Shar—"

"That's sweet," said Nicole over her father's dismay.

"Oh we're well past 'sweet' and firmly in 'maddening'. We went across the border some time before noon and now we are rapidly rounding on 'fateful'."

"Sharon, can we not talk of this in front of the children?" She looked at Andy with faint surprise. "I'd like to remind you that you are talking with my daughter," he said pointedly. Mumbling, he added, "Though it's never stopped you before."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sharon said stopping mid-step.

"Nothing, nothing," Andy said and ushered her to keep moving. She practically stumbled sideways, her eyes still fixed on reading him.

"I think," Nicole said from ahead of them, "that Dad is hinting at the way you..." She bunched her arms while she was at a loss for words. "Well, propositioned him while talking to me at Dean's birthday party."

"What!?" they blurted together as they both stopped and gaped at the young woman.

Nicole turned. "Well, alright, it was more like Dad thinking you did. Or thinking that you said more than you did." They were still both gaping when she turned around. "What?" They said nothing. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't put two and two together after the way you two acted? After Sharon couldn't look me in the eye all night after you two had your little private chat? Give me some credit. I'm my father's daughter after all." She was still not managing a dialogue, so she added, "It took me a while, but I got there. 'Performance reviews', honestly."

Andy rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, sweetie, um..."

"I admit, I had some pretty wrong conclusions at first but Dean helped me out in the end." Her wrong conclusions had gone as far as discreetly probing Provenza if there might be something untoward between her father and Sharon. Her father's thunderous look and the way he had grabbed Sharon aside had scared something young and vulnerable inside her unconscious mind. After watching the couple together a time or two more she could only laugh at her assumption. Rarely had she seen more loved up couple. It was quite sickening, really. She smiled. "And don't get me started on my suggestion of 'handling the evidence'. I really, really, really do not need more of those images in my head, thank you very much."

Sharon hid her face in her hands and turned her back on both of them. Andy groaned and gazed at the sky. He really didn't need that image either, thank you very much. Though Sharon usually handled the evidence very efficiently in one gulp, if his few experiences with her making him produce said evidence was anything to go by.

Shit. His mind really went there! Andy groaned again. Thank you very much.

"Nicole," Sharon's soft voice penetrated the rushing of blood in his ears, "I'm... I can't apologize enough. It was a misunderstanding."

"Yes, I gathered that."

"And I'm not — That is to say —" Sharon licked her lips. "You shouldn't have heard that. I apologize."

"Don't."

Andy looked at the two women which was a hard task while trying to control his blushing.

"Like I said," Nicole continued, "I'm convinced it was all Dad. I'm pretty sure you did talk about honest-to-God performance reviews with me. Unless you have a complete system of merit pay for Dad's services rendered," she shuddered, "which I really do not want to think about."

Dropping his head, Andy groaned once more. "Nicole, sweetheart, I think we should skip this conversation. You're embarrassing Sharon."

"More like you," Nicole retorted. "Besides, it's all your fault. You thought it first and I'm blaming my genes. How do you think I arrived at the horrible truth?"

Sharon was totally silent for a while. Then she burst into uncontrollable giggles. She fell against Andy and buried her face in his chest. "Your mind," she choked out between bursts of giggles, "is wonderful."

"This might take a minute," Andy said seeing Nicole's surprised amusement. Sharon stumbled in her high heels and Andy grabbed her closer against himself.

"'You wish they turned out like you'," Sharon wheezed, "'then they do and you're screwed'." She looked up at Andy with a second of seriousness. "Congratulations," she said and burst into another round of laughter. This was a little too gloating for Andy's tastes. Getting himself quoted at himself was never an uplifting experience and Sharon had an uncanny ability to remember the exactly wrong thing in the absolutely worst moment.

"What are you laughing at?" he said with distaste. "If you remember it was you who started it all."

Her laughter stopped with a shocked gasp. "I did not!"

"Uh-huh, yes, you did." Luckily he happened to glance at Nicole and think better of it than to remind Sharon of any of her many innuendos and double entendres he had been subjected to in the past few months. Instead he stage whispered, "You, Sharon, are a flirt. Of the worst possible degree."

Sharon looked between father and daughter. "Nicole —"

"Hm," she said holding up a palm, "I think I'm going to side with Dad on that." She turned around and hopped up the front steps. "There's no way my father could come up with something that smart on his own."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Dad." She waved a hand over her shoulder. "But I did say it took me a while to reach the conclusion, so..." She waited for Andy to usher Sharon through the front door. "Seriously, it's alright. That was pretty funny. Is funny. If I don't think about it too hard," she said earning another round of embarrassed giggles from Sharon.

Nicole rolled her eyes and offered them hangers for their coats. She watched her dad help Sharon out of hers. "Um," she looked Sharon's dress, then her own comfy knit, "Dad didn't say you two had plans for the evening. Dinner isn't ready, we were planning on eating late."

"Plans?" Andy questioned holding out Sharon's coat behind her. "We don't have any plans."

"No, no plans," Sharon affirmed. "You can have us as long as you can bear."

"Really?" Nicole held out her knit. "I'm feeling a little underdressed here."

Andy chuckled. "Oh that. It's Christmas."

"Your father is trying to say —"

"— that Sharon loves holidays," Andy finished for Sharon, leaning over her shoulder. "Any and all. Extra points for religion."

She swatted his arm. "I'm Catholic, you know that."

"I'm Catholic too and so is she," he said pointing at Nicole, "but Sharon, no one's Catholic like you."

"You make me sound like some... Bible-hugging buttoned-up spinster."

"You're certainly not that." He winked at the smiling Nicole. "Definitely not a buttoned-up prude."

Grinning at each other, father and daughter did a mental high-five.

"You're both horrible," Sharon said feigning disgust at the duo.

Andy spun her around and slipped an arm around her waist. "And yet you love us."

She smiled up at him and nodded emphatically. He leaned to kiss her. "I don't know why!" she whimpered between two soft pecks which raised giggles out of her. He went for another kiss.

"Did we miss something funny?" said a little boy's voice behind them. Sharon felt a tug at her skirt.

"Oh, honey," Sharon said as she untangled from Andy and leaned to stroke the boy's cheek, "just some silliness your Grandpa cooked up."

"Can't you tell us?"

"It's a long story." The boy's face drooped. "But Grandpa will soon do something funny again, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Oh, guaranteed."

The younger brother sidled closer and leaned against Sharon's thigh. "Grandpa is funny."

"Yes, he is!" Sharon sing-songed and let a few errant giggles escape. Nicole joined her.

Andy rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, Grandpa funny. Let's move inside and leave poor old Grandpa alone for a moment." He slipped his hands behind the women's backs and gently pushed them to walk forward. Nicole chuckled silently and walked ahead of them. As the living room came into view, he nodded his greeting to Dean who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, reading something that looked suspiciously like a manual. He barely acknowledged the boys plopping on the couch behind him. That was unusual. Andy was about to open his mouth when, at the doorway, his eye caught something. He stopped. "Oh my."

Sharon turned to look at Andy. He didn't look at her but at something on their left. He pointed at that something.

"Look, a train set!"

"Yes?" Sharon directed her eyes at said item. Then back at Andy. Something was expected of her. "Looks big?" she said. It wasn't enough to prompt a comment. She tried again. "A present, I assume."

Andy looked at her in emphatic despair. "But it's a train set!"

"And...?" Sharon wasn't seeing it, whatever it was that was so anxiously asked of her.

"Women!" He stalked across the room and arranged himself on the floor beside the huge box. He lifted the cover and picked something up. "Okay, Nicole. Now we have plans. And they are firmly centered on this here living-room floor."

Sharon was flabbergasted. She gaped at the man now completely wrapped up in... in... that there thing. She looked at Nicole. "Did you —? Excuse me?"

"Don't fight it, Sharon," Nicole said on an exasperated sigh. "Wine is in the kitchen. I knew that train set was a mistake." She started showing Sharon towards the kitchen as the boys got off the couch and ran up the stairs. "Dean's been obsessing, yes," she raised her voice, "obsessing —"

"Have not!"

"— obsessing over that thing for a week."

Sharon glanced back. "It's still in the box?"

"I know," Nicole answered dully. She handed Sharon a glass, took one for herself and downed it in one go. Then filled another.

"I see," Sharon said cautiously. "Men and trains, that's a thing, right?" Nicole's weary nod horrified Sharon. "Oh gods. I'm having the sudden premonition this evening ends with your father hearing the words 'you were right' for the first time."


	3. Chapter 3

After saying a proper hello to the boys and Dean, Sharon found herself in the kitchen with Nicole. The boys had finally settled upstairs, cleaning their room and setting out the science kit Andy had bought them for Christmas. They apparently had some 'neat' experiments to show Andy and Sharon. Sharon had followed them to the kitchen to gather supplies and while they ran back to their room, had struck up a conversation of recent news with Nicole. Their Christmas at Dean's parents' had gone well and they had indeed attended a Christmas fair with real reindeer.

Somewhere around the time when Nicole moved on to her work news (no real news) and what was happening with her brother and mother, Sharon had switched her wine into a glass of water. Nicole was still sipping her second glass in between stroking the food on the stove and chatting. Checking the steaming vegetables, she lowered the heat and turned on Sharon.

"I see you and Dad are doing well," she said pointedly while studying Sharon. Sharon hummed. "Nothing... Nothing to report?"

Sharon inhaled some of her drink. Coughing, she asked, "Like what?" It wasn't surprising that Nicole wanted to hear about them but she kind of wished she would have been eased into the conversation by idle conversation about work and her own family. She coughed again, a little embarrassed, a little cautious of what might be coming.

"I don't know," Nicole said matter-of-factly bypassing Sharon's discomfort. "What do people usually have to report. Good things, bad things, something or other."

"Nicole, we've gone out a few times."

"And the rest of the past nine months have been...? Spent inside, just the two of you?"

Sharon hid her face in her left hand and groaned. Trust Nicole to go from the fanciful to the crude. "Nicole, please. You and your father, you're both impossible." She turned to stare out of the window. The sun was starting to set painting the outside a darker shade of orange. "Andy... Your father's talked about us?"

"He's said... some things. About your, well, reticence."

"We're doing good. Better. We are..." Sharon rolled her wrist, "moving forwards."

"And Dad's happy? He agrees with that?"

"When has your father agreed with anything? He makes a point of not agreeing, you know that. I mean, the man can have a disagreement in an empty room!" she guffawed to hide her unease. Their relationship and their pressure points were definitely out of discussion, but this was Andy's daughter and she had probably heard more gruesome facts about their whole mess (well, her bitchy behavior and unwillingness to commit to any feelings for starters) than was proper anyway. Nicole not joining in on the laughter spoke volumes, as did the young woman's knowing look. "We..." Sharon started quietly, but paused to lick her lips, "I'm trying. He says that's enough for him."

"You look happy. Both of you."

Sharon dropped her eyes to the drink held in between her hands. A small smile tugging at her lips was her only acknowledgement of what was said. Yes, she at least was happy today and wasn't that enough? It was her who didn't want to enter into another relationship at this point of her life, but Andy did and Andy was a force of nature. Fighting him and their developing connection had been as useless as shouting down wind. Sharon smiled. She was glad of that.

And Andy would take care of himself like he promised. She needed to trust that, even at the face of daddy's girl wanting reassurances. She wondered if Nicole realized how instinctively she sided with her father. Perhaps she remembered the fairy outfits and trips to park and daddy pushing the swing and all the bad was something she only learnt through her mother and brother. Sharon saw some of that with her own kids and Jack, especially with Ricky. Most of the boy's childhood memories were of good things and until he understood more, he was constantly subjected to Emily's big sisterly corrections (ie. getting called stupid, followed by a story of Jack failing them) when daddy came up in conversation.

"Anyway, here's a drink for Dad. A wine for you—"

"Please, I'm fine with this," Sharon said raising her glass of water.

"Nonsense, the train thing is still going on."

"It's fine, really, Nicole. If the train thing gets worse, I'll switch back."

"Alright, until then," Nicole said raising her own glass and turning back to the stove.

Sharon made her way towards the living room and the train central. Dean was still reading, but Andy had moved onto joining some green patches. That didn't look like track, but what did she know. Sharon rounded the large gray couch and arranged herself on the seat behind Andy's back. She used her shin to nudge at his side.

He hummed.

In response Sharon leaned over his shoulder and proffered his drink.

He didn't react in any way, only reached for another bit from the box in front of them.

"Andy?" Sharon tapped his shoulder, "Andy, honey." That got his attention and he turned with a lopsided grin on his lips. Sharon offered the glass again. "Your drink?"

"Thanks, Babe," he said, took the glass and went back to the box he had been rummaging.

'Babe'? Sharon mouthed for the universe in general. Andy's never used that word before. Well, not for anything but making fun of it. Or her, more accurately.

She shuffled on the edge and placed her arms on his shoulder. He absentmindedly patted one of her hands. Seeing Dean pull out another box, Sharon had to ask. "Why does it take so long to build a track? Isn't it just snapping pieces together and that's it?"

"Women," Andy scoffed. "Of course it's not. Yeah, you can do it like that, but that's just boring. You can't rush perfection."

"Obviously."

"Shush now and let me concentrate."

Sharon ran a hand through his hair. "I thought all great artists needed muses."

"Muses are to be seen not heard, except when they do housework."

The hand against his neck stopped. "I can't believe I fell for you."

"Yeah yeah. Hard luck. I'll play the violin later."

She swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand. Dean looked a lot like laughing, but at Sharon's squint went back to unboxing pieces of track while, silently, Sharon studied the floor. Three big boxes. One for track, one for train and one for scenery. This was certainly not a small production. The scenery box drew most of her attention with its tiny plastic trees and what looked disturbingly like people. Boys at the age of five and seven seemed a little small for those things. Men were curious creatures: they always ignored the recommended ages on toys.

Speaking of boys of seven and five, a thumping from upstairs aroused Sharon's interest. Hearing her name called from the upstairs landing, she tapped Andy's shoulder and got up.

"Well," she said smoothing her skirt, "I'm switching to better men now. See you around."

The boys showed her an experiment after an experiment. After half an hour Sharon felt a bit like she did at work, at the third sentence of any of Mike's explanations. But she made the effort, tried to be encouraging and upbeat and secretly she really enjoyed the boys and their exuberance. She wasn't sure if all the experiments got the right results, but as long as the kids were happy. They wanted her to explain some things and that made her pause. How long had it been since high school chemistry? This was a little farther away from blood analysis and Luminol and GSR kind of science. She wondered (quite desperately at certain points) if Andy was any good at this kind of science.

Trouble was, she was alone with the boys. No amount of waiting for help made any difference so after the boys ventured into explaining a couple of more complex experiments she told them to save those for when Grandpa joined them, probably after dinner. Gently making her leave and telling the boys to set everything up for another round, she went to find the man.

Andy was still immersed in the train project. The train project that still hadn't progressed out of the boxes. Sharon groaned. This had to be a joke.

She retook her place on the couch. "Andy?" He was pushing two small trees into stands and paid no attention to her. "Andy!" she repeated.

"Don't shout, Babe."

'Babe', again. Sharon rolled her eyes and leaned over his shoulder. She made very meaningful eye contact before urgently whispering, "Did we discuss making an effort or did we not?"

"Hm?" She watched and waited for the meaning to connect. It did, after a moment. "Oh. Okay. In a minute, okay?"

She raised her palms and shook her head. This was not her problem, but she damn well would not spend the rest of her night listening to a tirade like the one on the road to here or being watched and followed by a man doing a very good impression of a stray begging for food. She changed tactics.

"A couple of questions, if I may?" Andy nodded a go ahead. "Did you have a track when you were a kid?"

"I'm a Jersey kid. All we had was burning tires and head lice."

"A nice image," she said drily. And after, "Would you have wanted one?"

"What kind of questions are these?"

"I'm just trying to..." she wiggled her fingers, "to get to the salient details."

"Salient... You and details," Andy scoffed.

"I'm trying to understand —," now she flapped a hand between Andy and the track paraphernalia, "— this." Andy started to get lost in the track pieces, so Sharon snapped her fingers for attention. "So did you? Want one?"

"Um..." He looked into the figurative horizon for a while, actually, for so long that Sharon thought about repeating the question once more. "No, no, I don't think so. Never crossed my mind, to be frank."

"I see."

"You see what?"

She shrugged. "I see." She didn't extrapolate, but sighed. "Carry on."

Sharon watched Dean arranging the track pieces in piles and and making a few more trees. There was an area of green mat on the floor, already garnished with a few trees, bushes and a couple of buildings. It really didn't look like much. Not realistic or grand or anything. Just... green mats and plastic trees.

"What is it with men and trains?" Sharon wondered aloud, almost surprising herself.

"What is it with women and shoes?" Andy retorted laconically, making her quirk an eyebrow.

"The same as it is with men and women's shoes?" she hazarded to suggest.

Dean chuckled. Andy glanced at her ankles and placing one hand on her left one, followed the curved line to her shoe. Smooth and sleek. And he kind of wanted to open those straps with his teeth when they got home. Her shoes were so much nicer off- than on-duty. No real surprise, but something worth noting every time. "Yeah. Sorry, Sweetheart, a minute? I'd like to see this thing in action."

She looked at him with an arched brow. Surely he couldn't have forgotten they still hadn't had dinner?

"No, take as long as you want," Sharon said slowly. "I'm just observing the great natural mystery in action."

"I could try to explain it to you, if you can't see the charm. Men love explaining things to women," he offered sardonically, already fully focusing on the assembly.

"So I've noticed," she remarked drily and his son-in-law chuckled again. She stepped closer, bent to place her glass on the floor next to Andy and took off her shoes. Primly she crouched down and sat next to him, tucking her legs to the side in a manner reminiscent of a ballerina. Andy checked her from head to toe in question. Sharon smoothed the skirt as low on her thighs as it would go. "What? I rather hear about this than off-side rules, golf minutiae, stealing strategy, penalty shots, Grand Jury subpoenas, Harley carburetors, insider trading, footnote burials, flight check procedures or celestial navigation, all of which have been explained to death for me in the past."

"The men you've dated!" Andy went back to connecting the pieces in his hands, but paused. "Hold on, Harley carburetors? Is that from the part of your life as a biker chick?"

Dean stopped what he was doing and, for the first time all evening, turned all of his attention to Sharon. "You were a biker chick?"

"No," Sharon rolled her eyes, "Andy likes to think I was. I only said I liked guys with bikes when I was a teenager."

"Not all you said," Andy said slyly. He still remembered her very detailed explanation on how you could easily have sex on a bike if you really set your mind to it. Alright, she might have been pulling his leg, but...

"No, but alas, no James Dean romanticism," she sighed. "Yes, that was from back in the day. I thought you would have picked up on celestial navigation."

"That was next. Some nerd?"

"Sea captain."

"Really?" Dean asked.

"Really," Sharon smiled. "Captains for Captains. And yes, I have had Remington rifling as it compares to Smith & Wesson one explained to me too by someone. A Captain too, if I remember the dates correctly."

"Men actually do that to women?" Dean asked, half surprised, half amused.

At that point Nicole walked in from the kitchen. "Do what?"

"We'll see," Sharon answered and turned to look up at Nicole. "Nicole, have you been explained the off-side rule by a date?"

"Oh, have I ever! I think by seven different guys, at least," Nicole sighed rolling her eyes. "Men do love explaining their sports to women."

Sharon chuckled and turned at the men. "See?"

"What were they supposed to see?" Nicole came to sit behind her back so that Sharon had to crane her neck to include her into the conversation.

"They asked me if men actually explained random sports and technical things to women. I don't think they believed my examples."

"What were they?"

"The usual sports things, rifling, flight checks, accounting, law, stock trading, celestial navigation," Sharon rattled with a shrug.

"That last thing," Nicole asked her eyes sparkling, "was it... good?"

"Oh, better than you can imagine. Well, as good as." Sharon patted her arm conspiratorially. "Sea captain. Dress whites. Actual examples."

"Really? Officer and gentleman? Sounds great. Should have been on my bucket list." She toed Dean's backside. "Why can't you be a sea captain?"

"Sorry, hon, some of us have to stay on land."

"You know ladies," Andy piped in, "as someone who has not been a sea captain either, I'm slightly disapproving the conversation."

Sharon smiled and slid against his side as he absentmindedly snaked an arm around her. "It's alright, you're better at navigation than he was."

"Sharon!" Her name was called in disapproval by the Flynns.

"You two are adorable." Sharon chuckled at the father and daughter duo. "So, go ahead, explain me this. This is actually something I've wanted to know and I'm sure you're the man to give me what I want." Seeing everyone's expression change at her words, she fixed, "That was not what I meant." Realizing her mistake, she chuckled and hid her eyes. "And now I have to say, that while it is true, I didn't mean to say what obviously all of us are thinking."

"You're adorable," Andy said still chuckling and kissed her hair. "While I've always appreciated detailed descriptions and visual information, there's nothing better than handling the actual thing."

"Andy, please. I'm already blushing."

"Yes, you are. And you have a dirty mind. I meant the track."

"Will you ever get to the track?" Nicole asked.

"Women," Dean muttered.

Nicole nudged his backside again. "I would be very quiet. If I wanted to keep the said track."

"No, no, sweetie, this thing is awesome!" Andy exclaimed. "I guarantee, the boys will love this."

"If they ever get to play with it." Nicole crossed her arms with a pointed look. "Be as it may, could you separate yourself from all the excitement and come for dinner?"

Sharon got to her feet first and offered a helping hand for Andy. "Come on, you can bore me later."

"Me? I'm never boring." He ignored the hand. Instead, he pushed her to sit on the couch and picked up her left ankle. With the other hand, he fished for her shoe. "You'll see," he said switching legs, "After all, I'm never wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

The dinner was fun, relaxed and delicious. The boys loved to talk about their Christmas presents with willing ears around. When the Christmas presents were mostly gone through, they moved on to their Christmas trip and what happened the last few weeks at school — it really had been over a month since they had the chance to catch up with their Grandpa and Sharon. Not many adult topics had room to be discussed with eager little boys and enthusiastic grandparents stealing the show. Sharon was not ashamed to be acting like the grandmother who spoils small kids rotten even if her place in the family wasn't really formal. She really, really missed kids that age.

Andy only smiled at Sharon's enthusiasm. It was great to see her relate so easily to his family. She took all of them by storm: her bubbly personality was hard not to like. When she got like this — excitedly chattering and smiling and gesturing so hard it was a miracle she didn't take flight — it was hard to reconcile her reserved and controlled side. Sometimes Andy wondered about that: what had made her have two completely separate sides to her personality?

Andy received a few kicks to the shin during the dinner (from both ladies) because he kept spacing out watching Sharon and the boys interact. He was still being quiet and a bad conversationalist to boot, apparently. Dean asked a few questions about work, but while Sharon was otherwise personable, her flippant and short answers communicated her disapproval of the subject so Andy tried to steer the conversation towards other avenues as well. There wasn't much, but they did manage a short discussion about the train set while the boys, Nicole and Sharon gushed over something dance related.

After dinner Dean remained in the kitchen with Nicole to clear up and get everything ready for their dessert. Andy followed the boys to the living room while Sharon took some convincing before agreeing to leave the kitchen. The boys wanted to see the track, which — quite unfortunately — was still in the box. Andy tried to interest them in foliage but there was not a lot to hold the first grader level interest so one by one they left Andy alone and moved towards the stairs where they had two little plastic cars to race.

That was the point where Sharon had been convinced. She waved at the boys at the bottom stair and walked around the couch.

"Andy, we could go upstairs now. Dean said the dessert will be a while and the boys are dying to show you their kit." She planted herself beside Andy on the cushions and only then saw what he was engrossed in. "Andy, are you having me on?"

"Yes, Sweetheart," he said a little distantly while joining plastic trees together, "of course. Sounds nice."

Sharon gawked at the man. Did he just — ? Did he really 'yes, dear' her? In all the time they had dated, she couldn't remember a time he didn't listen. Or, probably more accurately, this was the first time he got caught not listening. It cut that it had to happen around people, especially around family. Especially during Christmas: she would remember that and — Oh, she wanted to slap the man! Cursed, cursed trains and —

"Especially the having you part. That I like," Andy rumbled so close that Sharon startled. "But I'm willing to hear ideas on the 'on' part too, if you have some to spare." His hand snaked around Sharon's waist and his voice dropped even more. "After all, we've already done the 'on a desk' and 'on the floor' and..."

She swatted his shoulder. "You're horrible, horrible —" Her protests were cut off by a sweet kiss.

"There are impressionable ears around, Sharon," he mock chastised her, then looked around the room. "Speaking of which, there's science going on here somewhere."

"Yes, that's why I came down." She reflexively straightened his tie. "The boys want Grandpa."

He jumped up and smugly straightened his lapels. "Of course they do. I'm irresistible."

Sharon raised more sedately, rolled her eyes and pushed past Andy towards the stairs and the boys waiting. "You're something alright."

She could hear Andy chuckling behind her back until they entered the hall at which point he gently tugged on her elbow.

"Sharon?" he whispered, quite urgently, "I had a D in science."

"Of course you did," Sharon replied deadpan. Just her luck. "Just wing it," she hissed.

"'Wing it'? That's the best you can do?"

Sharon couldn't answer for two little boys abandoning their plastic cars and bounding to them.

"Now?" the older boy asked and at Sharon's nod, he jumped. "Yay!"

"Okay, monsters," Andy said catching the younger by the waist and lifting him to eye level. "You got all set up?"

"Uh-huh!"

The older boy kicked the floor with his toes. "Mom won't let us have bleach."

"Why? Then again, why would you want bleach?"

"Um, to... There's this one recipe."

"I see." Andy placed the little boy on his feet and turned towards the kitchen doorway. She missed Sharon's very unamused folding of her arms and the boys clamoring up the stairs. "Nic, can they have bleach?"

Nicole walked into the doorway and glanced at Dean.

"It's your father, honey," he said.

Nicole thought about it for a few moments. "Not without adult supervision."

"What am I," Andy said spreading his arms with a good-humored grin. "Yesterday's meatloaf?"

Nicole glanced at him like he was just that. Or more like, a meatloaf you didn't quite remember making. "One who needs supervision." She ignored her father's flabbergasted look and turned towards Sharon. "Sharon? Supervise?"

Now it was Sharon's turn to give Andy a long, appraising look.

He sighed. "Why don't you women ever trust me!"

"Hm, yes," Sharon said drily, "wonder why that is." She gave him another long look before turning to his daughter. "Okay, Nicole. Luckily I'm well versed in supervising unruly men."

Nicole nodded and fetched the bottle. She handed it to Sharon who hugged it to herself. "But I'm not giving any of you matches," she said sternly, "no point in asking." Nicole shot an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Sharon. You're wonderful, but Dad's... Well, Dad."

"Hey!" Andy threw his arms and the scowl moved over his face.

"Come on." Sharon grabbed his elbow and started dragging him up the stairs. Over her shoulder she sent a melodious, "Thank you, Nicole!"

Andy followed a few steps in silence before leaning over and quietly asked Sharon, "Err... Why would we want matches?"

Sharon shook her head.

Andy stopped. "You don't know, do you!" He jumped two steps at once to catch up to her. "You got a D too!"

"I did not!" she snapped. "It's just been a while... and I haven't found a chemist to date." At the top of the stairs, she twirled and added with a raised brow, "Yet."

Andy gasped. "I'm taking out my phone and googling."

Turned out, that could have been an useful plan all through the experiments with the boys. If Sharon felt useless at explaining the underlying science, Andy was useless. At first he tried making up explanations but even at the age of five some of them sounded way too farfetched. Sharon had to step out several times to control her laughter. And Nicole had been so right about the matches — Sharon wouldn't want to be included in that mess... Luckily the boys were honest and with sparkling eyes they had explained the bit where the matches would have made an appearance.

The boys were ecstatic to be spending some time with Grandpa despite his obvious lapses in science. It seemed like they enjoyed it even more to together try to work out the explanations than they would just experimenting and then being told the whys and wherefores. Sharon was happy to watch the interactions and help wherever asked. She made a mental note to 'I told you so' later in the evening. She was getting inwardly smug, very very inwardly smug.

But when the planned experiments ran out, the boys were tasked with the final putting away of the kit while Sharon and Andy cleaned the bigger messes. Quietly chatting the adults moved downstairs, Sharon still in charge of the bleach bottle. Andy joined Dean in the living room while Sharon kept walking into the kitchen with the bottle. Nicole walked the other way with a bottle of wine and asked Sharon to join them in the living room after putting the bottle down wherever.

Sharon, on the second try, found the bleach's rightful place, and then joined the adults in the living room. Nicole was leaning on the couch's backrest with an expression of horrified curiosity. The men were again at the train project, silently working at making practically nothing. Sharon paused at her shoulder.

"Out of interest," she said lowly, "do you think there's a train set sold in this country that goes to a child who wants it more than his or her father or grandfather?"

"I'm beginning to think not."

Sharon watched Andy making a few more fiddly trees. "I think I'm starting to be real glad your father doesn't have a basement."

"I think letting Dean talk me into buying this was a mistake."

"Well, at least you don't have a basement."

"No, but he showed me a video of a track going through the whole house."

"Ah."

There was a silence for a few beats. Then, Nicole, "Any more wine?"

On the other side of the couch, Dean raised his head. He caught Andy's attention. "I think we are being mocked."

"Think? I know so."

"Do we complain when they buy shoes?"

"Never."

"Do we make fun of their shoe closets?"

"No, of course not."

Sharon rolled her eyes and leaned towards Nicole. "Do men lie?"

"Absolutely!"

Andy shook his head. "They just don't understand." He turned in his place and held out his hand. "Sharon, come here." Sharon gave Nicole a knowing smirk but both ladies rounded the couch and arranged themselves on the floor next to their respective men. Sharon was still daintily arranging her legs and skirt when Andy scooped her closer to his chest. "This here is an electric track. Electric, Sharon!"

"Yes? So is my iron."

Frustrated, Andy slid his arms around her. He placed an engine in her hands. "Here, take this. Feel the weight of it." Sharon did a few experimental hefts. Andy placed his chin on her shoulder and enclosed her hands in his around the engine. "See? It feels real, yeah?" He slowly moved their hands over the toy and lowered his voice. "Look at the curves, think about the engine coursing through, leaning on the inside..."

Nicole shared a meaningful look with Dean. "Do you think we are a little bit... extra in the room?"

Sharon noticed the younger couple exchanging small smirks. She blushed and nudged Andy to give her a little more space.

He wasn't fazed. "Okay," he said and reached into the box. "Here is track for you. Join it." Sharon took the piece and leaned to snap it to the piece on the floor. "Not like that!"

She paused. "I thought it just snapped together?"

"It does, but... Not there, okay?"

Slowly, she turned, the piece still in her hand. The younger couple chuckled and quietly retreated to check on the dessert.

"What do you mean 'not there'?" Sharon asked with deathly seriousness.

"Well, see here," Andy pointed a little further on the floor, "we have the hospital set over there and wouldn't it be great to have it inside a curve? Now, if you put the turn there we —"

"Oh, come on!" Sharon threw the piece away and bunched her arms. "This is insane." Andy grappled around her for a few track pieces and started to build like nothing had happened. "I get the size thing and the going into tunnels symbolism," Sharon said more evenly, "but the rest of it is all a mystery to me."

"Just out of curiosity, do you always think everything in a sexual context or do you do it just to tease me? I know it's not that you don't realize you do it."

Sharon smirked at his scowl. "Both?"

"Well, you're on the wrong tracks there, Ms. Dirty Mind," he said and pushed her aside with a kiss on her temple. "Trains are awesome. Big, bulky things breathing fire and smoke with noise and speed. The world was conquered by laying down tracks. Hard work, power, prowess."

"So men like dragons too?"

"No," Andy gave an all-suffering sigh at her mocking, "men indulge in fantasy from time to time, but dragons usually don't enter the picture. Not unless you're a sad nerdy sea captain. Or a little perverted."

"Is this going to be another Edward thing?"

"You're practically Edwardian with your men."

"What's that supposed to mean? That I date only a class above myself?"

"Yeah." He placed laid another few pieces down. Then muttered, "Above, or rather, at your level."

"Why would I date down?" Sharon watched Andy building the track as if he wasn't listening to her. "I've achieved things and I like smart, assertive men with ambition, goals, tenacity and work ethic. They tend to succeed by the age I feel comfortable dating them."

He grumbled something unintelligible.

"What do you care anyway? You're at least as good as any of them, more likely better. So what you can't explain celestial navigation to me in dress whites? I can explain it to you in a white dress." She flipped her hair over one shoulder. "And you do have a dress uniform, I hope, professionally."

Andy perked up and came to look Sharon in the eye. "What kind of a white dress?"

She shrugged. "Short?" She leant closer to whisper, "Wedding?"

"Soon?"

She smiled but shook her head and glanced down. Probably not.

"Well, never mind," Andy said kissing her lips quickly as a thunder descended the stairs. "I have patience these days, thanks to you."

The boys yelled into the kitchen in the hopes of dessert, but hearing that it was not yet ready, the older went to help and the younger boy made a beeline towards the train project.

"Hey hey, buddy, easy!"

Andy tried to wave the boy around the track area, but he skipped through the curves and over the trees to where they were sitting. Sharon pulled the child in her arms and away from Andy's methodical building area.

"Why can't we set this up?" the boy pouted.

"Oh," Sharon kissed the back of his neck, "honey, don't mind your grandpa. He's a silly old man who never got to play with trains. Now there's the thing he always wanted and he's not allowed to play! Adults can't play just because, they have to have reasons like setting things up or testing or teaching."

"Being adult is dumb."

"I agree," Sharon chuckled. "So, what do you say we let your grandpa play for a while and soon he'll let you join and when we leave, it's all yours?"

"Okay. Can I watch?"

"Of course you can." The boy settled on the floor beside her. To counteract the impending boredom, Sharon turned her attention on him. "You know, your grandpa tried to explain to me what's great about trains, but, well, he wasn't very good. Could you?"

"Maybe. But you're a girl. Girls don't get things."

Andy laughed.

Sharon swatted his forearm. "Be quiet or you won't get things. Concentrate on the track."

"You shouldn't hit grandpa," interjected the little boy.

"Yeah, you heard it," Andy agreed. It earned him another absentminded swat as Sharon focused back on the child.

"You're a smart boy. You shouldn't hit people but that was a sign we agree on. I just quickly reminded your grandpa of manners. He disrespects me."

"Dis—?"

"Disrespects. It means to think bad of someone. Like calling someone stupid."

"Grandpa calls you stupid?"

"Sometimes and sometimes far worse." She chuckled and leant closer to whisper conspirationally, "He thinks it's funny because I'm smarter than he is and everyone knows."

"Hey," Andy objected, "you are not that smart!"

"Am I not?" Sharon challenged. "Would a stupid person choose you?"

"Yeah, good argument. You are smart," he said with a smile and reached to peck her lips.

"Eww!" the boy sneered.

From the kitchen came Nicole's voice, "What's that, are our children getting lifelong traumas too?"

Sharon chuckled. "Yes, sorry!"

"Could you two try to keep your hands to yourselves even for a minute?"

"No hands involved, I assure you!" Andy called.

Nicole emerged into the doorway. "I don't know if that's supposed to horrify or reassure me."

They all chuckled and seeing nothing noteworthy, Nicole returned to the dessert preparations.

Sharon turned to the boy. "See, it's important to make up if you fight with someone or apologize if you disrespect them."

"But, kissing! Eww!"

"You will learn to like it. But only kiss people you care about, it's special then."

The boy thought about that. "Like mom?"

"Like your mom. You can always kiss your family or friends on the cheek if you want to say you like and care about them but don't know the words."

The boy nodded and they watched Andy setting up the track. Few minutes later the boy shifted, got up and first kissed Sharon's cheek making her startle, then stepped around her and kissed Andy's making him stop his assembly, before running off to the kitchen.

"Thank you," Andy said lowly, still watching the pieces he had in his hands without seeing them.

"I didn't do anything," Sharon said and went to rest her head on his shoulder, folding one arm to rest on the opposite shoulder.

"Yes, you did. Without you I wouldn't have any of this."

"You would. Anything you think you have now, you've worked for, hard and long. I'm only here to enjoy the rewards of your hard work."

He slipped her hand from his shoulder and kissed it, first the face, then the palm, before laying it back to its original place. His other arm snaked around her waist and pulled her impossibly close. Sharon had to relocate her head from his back to the crook of his shoulder, gently laying her right hand on his holding her waist.

The track lay forgotten as they just sat there thinking about life. How it changed, how little things made it so much different. Taking a chance on scary things — like facing the whole extended family who hates you just to see your girl marry or opening yourself up to a friendship evolving into something more — enriched your life when looking back, but sometimes they also paid out in small kodak moments.

"It's still not finished? I'm going to agree with Sharon about men and trains," Nicole said behind their backs. Noticing how they pulled apart and both of them brushed their eyes; Sharon as daintily and inconspicuously as she could with an effective but tiny gesture, Andy by pretending to rub the whole of his face and missing the mark somewhat; she lost all of her playful notes and faltered.

"What happened?" she asked worried. Neither met her eye.

"Nothing," Sharon replied clearing her throat and smoothing imaginary pulls on her dress. To further send the message of nonchalance, Sharon folded her legs between her and Andy.

"Something did." Nicole checked the surroundings like the answer would just hang there somewhere in the air. Finding nothing, she had to resort to prodding, "Is everything alright? You okay?"

Andy placed a hand on Sharon's ankle and they both turned to look at it. As if by silent agreement their eyes rose and fixed on each other.

He smiled faintly. "Everything's perfect."

* * *

 **A/N:** _So this was the last chapter before the smut... Which is quite terrible, actually (one of my first tries, hey!), but since I promised it & it ties up a few things (pun not intended) I'll put it up as soon as I have time. It's been quite fun revisiting this AU and slutty!Sharon. :D If M-ish stuff is not your thing, thanks for reading, commenting, following etc. this far!_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** _This is the last chapter and rated_ **M!** _If not your cup of tea, thanks for reading the first four chapters._  
 _Warning: there might be a reason why I'm a Young Adult writer. I was so beyond my comfort zone and it shows that I couldn't edit even now because I just don't have the skills (or practice: this was my second? smut). But I did it, I wrote s-e-x. *cringe*_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

It was gone late, very late in fact, when Sharon and Andy finally closed the door of her condo behind them. The living-room area oozed darkness with only the dim reflected light of the city filtering through the patio doors. The place smelled faintly of hot grease — Rusty had either fried something or ordered in something totally unhealthy. The boy himself was already in his room, almost guaranteed to be asleep since it was late and the condo was so quiet.

Sharon planned to move them straight to her bedroom, Andy stopping for a second to take a glass of water and then following her inside. As soon as he had closed the door, his hand still on the doorknob, Andy was faced with Sharon slithering out of her dress in the middle of the room. He was sure no body was supposed to move and sway like that and based on the smirk she shot over her shoulder she did it to taunt him.

"Lose the smug smile," Andy said with a faked frown.

"This?" she asked innocently turning around and pointing at her lips. "This is not a smug smile. This is... arch."

With that she strutted across the room and sat on the edge of her bed where she stopped to study him with narrowed eyes, exaggeratedly crossing her legs and giving new life to every passing 'naughty librarian' fantasy Andy had ever entertained. That damn smirk challenging him, he stalked over, his lips ready to commit murder. However, before they could connect with hers, Sharon leaned back, propping herself on one elbow and used the other palm on his chest to keep him away.

"Ah-ah! The magic words please," she singsonged.

Magic words? Please? No, that was one word. "I love you?" he tried despite knowing that it was the wrong choice: she didn't want to be even close to those words when sex was in play. He understood the reasoning: the 'lies in the heat of the moment' argument, but sometimes it ate him. It was hard enough to think of things to say during and after and he all too often thought that anyways so why couldn't he say it? After all, he had said it to her before and often enough with no sex in sight.

Now she only smiled. "Thank you, but no. I meant the other three little magical words."

Andy's mind and gaze both went blank. "Oh no."

"Oh yes," Sharon smirked knowingly and ghosted her fingers along his jaw. "Say it."

"Do I have to?"

"No, of course you don't 'have' to." She was petty enough for making the air quotes. "Just like I don't 'have' to include you," she added and started running her hands down her body. He watched her focus for a few beats. Yeah, he definitely didn't want to be included in that, he thought sourly.

"You are being mean."

"You brought it on yourself."

Andy watched Sharon squeeze her breasts together and couldn't restrain from leaning down to kiss them. He mumbled something on her skin.

"Hm?"

His head shot up. "You were right! Okay? You were right. As always."

Sharon relaxed back on elbows with a wide smile. "Okay. Now I'm being smug." She tilted her chin up. "What are you going to do about it?"

He didn't do anything at first. Andy's eyes raked over every inch of her lean body before his hands joined the party. The backs of his fingers touched her nipples, the palms stroked her rib cage and his fists squeezed her hips. Sharon let him, humming under her breath and waiting.

She wouldn't go as far as calling herself confident in her near nakedness — not with him, not when she knew his last experiences of unclothed female flesh at touching distance probably were taut and trim and barely thirty — but she was at peace. She knew her failings: every bit of loose skin, every blemish and lump of stubborn fat; but she also knew she wasn't unattractive. Her body was real and she took care of herself with sums large enough to make herself feel guilty. And she never had a problem turning on a man she wanted, except for Jack, but that was a whole can of worms she had long ago learned to discount.

But when all that was said and done, she loved, yes, absolutely loved, the way this man spent minutes and hours looking at her. Sure it drove her mad when he did it while she was ready for action (after all this was the man who stopped in the middle of their first time to watch her back — who did that?!) but it also made her inordinately happy of having spent obscene amounts of money to look as she did.

Andy's hands were warm against her ribs while his eyes fixated on her cleavage. Sharon shivered under his traveling fingers, mostly out of the thought that he was looking at her breasts with unashamed hunger. Her chest swelled towards him in an unspoken offer. She wasn't generally afraid of initiating something but she was hesitant to do so when they were at hers and not alone. A part of her was convinced Andy thought of her as lacking and detached when she tried to be quiet and had to concentrate on every sound that might alert them of the end of their privacy: afterwards he usually rolled on his side and chatted with her but with those times he just gathered her closer and fell asleep. The air reeked of disappointment. And she was too scared to bring it up.

"Good evening?" she stuttered, trying to make conversation to hide where her thoughts were running.

"Uh-huh. Getting better," Andy added slipping his fingers under the waistband of her underwear. His wrist started to drag the band lower over her hip. He leered. "And better by the minute."

She laughed, snorted and swatted his chest before turning serious. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh," he hummed. That was all so she reached to unbuckle her shoes only to be quickly stopped and pushed back on the bed. "Leave it. I'll take care of them."

"We'll need to be quiet. Rusty's asleep," Sharon whispered, relaxing but giving him an out.

"I can enjoy you quietly," Andy vouched and pecked her lips. "And I'd like to see you keep those shoes on."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "By all means."

Andy removed her glasses to their place on the nightstand. Then, quite prosaically, he unbuttoned his shirt, and when he noticed Sharon giving him a teasing look complete with biting on the tip of her tongue, jokingly threw the shirt as well as his tie at her. Laughing, she batted them on the bed beside her while he dropped his pants. Her eyes widened when she caught a sight of him, ready and dripping.

Andy took her ankles in his hands and lifted them up straight. He could almost hold them with one hand while he bent to drag her black panties off and up. In the process he caught a glimpse of her nakedness. It hit him that despite seeing porn where the girl's legs were held up high, he hadn't done that to the best of his recollection. Similarly it hit him that a) here was his chance and b) there probably weren't many better pairs of legs he could try that with.

"These are a great pair of legs," he said admiring. He stroked her shins silkily, then did the same with his lips before leaning over her to return to their kissing. "Keep them together and keep'em straight," he commanded while guiding them to the side and against his shoulder. Judging by the look Sharon gave him, she didn't properly understand what he was planning. "I'm going to enjoy all of you," he said and dragged her lips into another kiss.

He proceeded to warm her up: touching, teasing, kissing, kneading; nipping, licking and sucking. During their encounters he had been surprised that there seemed to be no area of Sharon he was not allowed to touch and no part of her that could make her uncomfortable. He could see there were places she didn't think as sexy or worth of notice but instead of stopping him or directing him away, she let him explore and only wondered about his attention. Which was great because she was so responsive — but not in that 'ooh, aah' way so many women were, but rather in that every bit of what he did to her stoked some minute part of life into her arousal like each note was essential to build the perfection that was a symphony.

When his hand ran up from her ass to the back of her thighs and across in ever concentrating spiral, Sharon's arousal was at the point where her hands almost dragged him inside her. Bended at the knees, her legs tried to tip him on top of her as her nails dived through the hair on his chest and across his nipples. With a guttural sound he yanked her hands away and into the sheets above her head. He didn't correct her on keeping her legs straight while he went to kiss her breathless.

Her legs were tired and she was almost bent double as Andy's tongue tangled with hers. She wanted to run her hands through his hair, to pull him even closer... but... But she couldn't move her hands! Sharon tried again. There was only the burning sensation of skin's friction against skin. Her tongue pushed his out and she looked up at Andy.

"Hey, ssh," he shushed. Her breathing paused for several beats, but he kept waiting until she exhaled. "I love you, remember?"

Sharon looked unsure for some seconds before melting into the sheets. He knew she liked being the active, even aggressive, party and he respected that to the best of his ability. Most of the time. He never made any comments about it — give him a break, he was a man after all and a sexy woman wanting to work hard at giving him pleasure was not really something he felt inclined to question.

This time, however, he wanted to watch.

But he needed to touch as well.

Andy spotted the tie next to Sharon's head and reached for it.

"Andy... Andy! What are you doing?" He could hear the panic slipping into her voice as her thighs started to tighten against his chest. She was on the verge of bucking him off. He knew that. And it was not a part of his plan.

He let his gaze drop to her eyes, by way of her red lips, and stroked disarmingly her thigh with his other hand.

"Hey, it's nothing," he whispered soothingly against her cheek. Sharon tugged at her hands. "Leave it." He thought about what he should say and if he was pushing Sharon too far. The trouble was, he just got this visual in his head and she was gorgeous and so perfect for the part and the look she always got when she tried to be quiet... It all blended in his head and he wanted to see it and show it to her without her... interrupting. He was putty at her hands the best of times, so the easiest way was to stop her hands. Logical. Right?

Panting, Sharon tried to twist her upper body to see what he was trying to do. Andy kept nuzzling her cheek but she was trapped. Her legs twitched but were deftly hugged by Andy's arm.

"Sharon, stop."

Please, let me go, she wanted to say, but her mouth refused to beg. She contented herself with staring into his eyes.

"It's alright, it's just a tie," Andy said and had to smile at her owlish expression. She wasn't blind without her glasses by any means, but she liked the lights on and had the cutest way of trying to focus that made her eyes huge. "Just a reminder, okay?" He loosened his hold on her wrists an inch as a show of faith. "I won't tie you up. You say stop, we stop. And you want your hands back," he smirked and pecked her lips, "well, we'll consider that."

"Why?"

"Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't go there..." He chuckled. "I don't know. Feels like a good idea." His smirk turned suggestive. "And you love my ideas."

Sharon snorted, she couldn't help it. Yeah, right. Andy and his ideas. Nine out of ten were bad, about half of those tenth ones were abysmally bad and the other half... Well, they were bad in a completely right way.

He let her study him and to her reach her own conclusions. After long, silent, moments her shoulders and legs relaxed as she inhaled deeply. "Okay," she whispered.

Andy smiled at her sweetly and leaned in to kiss her. She responded slowly, hesitantly but he kept trying until she was again panting and moaning one of her tiny throaty moans. Only then did he break their contact and with one last glance at her once again alarmed eyes, he went to her hands. He placed them side by side, gave them a critical look and picked up the tie. He tied a nine inch circle of the tie. The circle slipped over Sharon's right hand, then, after a twist, the other loop slid around her left hand.

She glanced up. Tried her hands against the loop. It slipped down from her wrists, crumbling against gravity and stopping almost on the level she wore her watch.

"See, if you get scared, just twist your hands and pull," Andy explained as he focused on her eyes. "Okay?"

Sharon raised a brow and shook her head no. "Tighter."

He untied the knot and started making another a few inches down the tie.

Sharon shook her head again. "Tighter." She crossed her wrists to give him a hint.

"Are you sure?"

She glanced up. "But make it a bow."

If he could get weaker at his heart and harder at his dick, there weren't too many things that could have achieved it better than that. He finished the knot and leaned over to kiss her wrists in thanks for her trust, for her willingness to go all in. He would definitely keep tabs on the ends of that bow should she even hint that she might like him to pull on one. No questions, no calming her down, no nothing but undoing that bow on pure instinct if need be. His hardness pressed against the back of her thigh and she shifted.

Straightening up, as he pulled her legs up in the air beside his face, he caught a touch of moisture and she nodded. She knew when she was ready and that seemed to be now. Andy had tried a few times to make sure with his fingers (dense as he was to not get her signals) but the last time had ended up with a hard slap on his wrist and a Darth-esque "don't ruin it for me" from Sharon. She lusted for the stretch of the first entry he had learned and had been trying to make it as good as possible since.

And there was no question he was ready to enter her. Heck, he'd been ready to enter her from the moment her dress hit the floor. Damn teasing dress, it had made him hard even while on her and especially when walking up the hall, looking at her ass, he suddenly realized he'd never seen it on her before. He'd surely have remembered that slit showing her inner thighs. But, when it finally fell to the floor just as he stepped through the threshold, his hardness grew thanks to jealousy. Sharon was usually careful of her clothes so on seeing this dress being cruelly relegated to the floor he knew it was in need of washing. That meant she had worn it before. When and with whom got his blood boiling: to think of another's hand on her inner thigh, on the smooth material on her side, tracing down the collar's edge over the swells her breasts... Damn, he was the only one to be allowed that!

Andy stroked her cheek. Mine, he thought as he slightly repositioned himself and pushed into her tightness in one long stroke.

She took his thumb in her mouth. Not because it was sexy but because that was the only thing that crossed her mind to stop herself from a loud moan. They had been here enough times for him to know how she liked him and his fixation with her legs made her even tighter than usual on his entry. She hadn't realized that but based on his wolfish grin, Andy had. He was cruelly bringing down her control. As the inevitable spasm at his entry made her flex her neck, she pushed her tongue hard against his thumb to kill the whine in her throat.

Instead, she heard a groan.

Startled by her lack of control, her tongue twitched as her eyes sprung open.

There was another groan and this time she saw it was not her, it was Andy with his eyes black brown on her lips and his own parted slackly. Sharon twirled her tongue again, triggering another husky sound from Andy.

Okay, so maybe this was sexy, she thought mischievous. Her mouth opened long enough for her to catch the next two of his fingers which she slowly slid twice in and out between her lips before lying back and returning to suckling.

"Don't do that," he admonished. Another twirl. He slammed his hips hard against hers making her lids flutter. "Don't do that," he repeated leaning over her. "Otherwise I'm going to take my dick out and let you switch," he said lowly. Sharon shrugged, but didn't stop toying with his fingers. No, she added a hum.

Her spine was throbbing with the beat of her heart as he moved inside her. He was mostly slow, but threw in a few unpredictable hard and fast strokes to which she couldn't but moan. On a series of five such strokes her lips parted and his fingers slipped out. As soon as she realized the lapse, she made an attempt to reel them back in but he knew his mistake and pulled straighter, letting the wet fingers wrap around her shins where his other hand had remained the whole time.

Her disappointment must have shown.

"You enjoy that too much," he said.

"Which you like," she countered.

Andy chuckled. Hey, who was he to lie he didn't like Sharon enjoying to use her mouth on him? Even he wouldn't be that stupid.

He kissed her legs resting against his shoulder. A grin broke forth as his eyes traveled up her ankles to her stretched arcs and flexed toes. She was so hot, lying there with her arms bound, still in her black bra and killer heels. And her green eyes wide and dark and always focused on him. He loved it when she was forced to be quiet: her eyes remained fixed on his and for once she couldn't hide the love and the lust she usually masked with putting all her effort in performing. She tried too hard but like this she was raw, open and so gorgeous... Why couldn't she see that?

He looked down at her. As expected, her eyes were dark with only a sliver of green showing and she, with her parted lips and pants, stared at him like he was her everything. But she wasn't fighting her eyes from closing like she did when she was forcing herself from giving in to abandon. Sure her breathing was still fast but the moans and hums had gone sparse. His muscles were tiring and doubt set in.

"Can you come like this?"

She shook her head. "I'm so wet... but..."

He slowed down, disappointed. The angle was wrong for her as so often happened without proper planning. Her bed was simply too high and he wasn't hitting her right like he would have at his. The sensations paired with her look were perfect for him but obviously she needed more. Try as he might, he couldn't see a solution where she would get her release and he would get his visual. His face fell. It was damned unfair.

"Untie me."

The disappointment grew but to his credit, he instantly leaned over her and tugged the tie completely open. His gaze and pants raking down her arms and face trying to memorize every detail were overtaken at her chest by her slender fingers pinching her own hard nipple right in front of his eyes. They both gasped; she in pleasure, he in surprise. That was not something they — or, rather, she — had done before while together in bed. By all accounts they were quite vanilla when it came to sex: his hands and mouth on her, hers on him and no 'accessories'. Not that he wanted much of those, but seeing her touch herself was something he quite liked. Sharon wasn't shy when it came to sex so maybe if he had suggested that she would have before, but it hadn't happened organically.

He was still considering all this when her hand moved to roughly cup and squeeze her breast, followed with her fingers twisting the nipple almost a full turn. She arched off the bed and mewled behind her teeth biting her lower lip. Andy gaped. His dick jumped and the blood in his ears sounded like a wave hitting a pier.

"Keep going, I'll be there," Sharon said breathlessly toying with her nipple.

"Sharon, I don't think I can —"

"Move, Andy!"

He did, slowly at first, thinking that if she did the twisting thing again she wouldn't have the time to 'be there' whatever her intentions. He was getting so close he just wanted to slam deep and let go whether she came or not. Her cunt was deliciously tight to begin with and watching her in the scene of his construction — with miles of white legs violently pointed with spikes of black heel, black lace of a bra spilling out mounds of soft flesh, one of her slim wrists still restrained over the tie he wore all day — punishing her own tender rosy peak made him swell enough for pushing into her to grate. A good hurt, like her nails on him speaking of passion.

"Sharon, I'm telling you —" Andy said between gritted teeth, deciding on this unfinished sentence to be the last warning he gave her. He was going to go for his finish and if she didn't get hers, then... "I'm not —"

His words stopped as her legs parted on his shoulder. At first he thought they were slipping down and he grabbed them tighter, but then the flash of her fingers slipping between her thighs alerted him to the truth.

Fuck, she's going to do it, his brain breathed. Sure, he had helped her a time or two with his fingers, but now it was her fingers doing the job. Her fingers on her wet and swollen flesh. He felt faint in his neck. He couldn't even see them, but the knowledge was enough.

And that was before he felt fingertips scissoring along his shaft. Only a touch and they were gone, retreated. He felt a swell down his abdomen, a burst of heat up his thighs and a hollow moan coursing up his lungs. His eyes wanted to close, but he fought, needing to look at the scene on the bed.

Sharon's eyes had closed and a concentrated look taken over her face. One nipple peeked over some floral pattern at the edge of the bra, her stomach undulated under ragged breaths and the tendons in her wrist were alive. She looked close, but she was too late.

With limp arms Andy let her legs drop against his sides and he leaned down over her to kiss her cheek. "Sor—"

Just as he was about to apologize, her fingers bumped against his member still partly buried, still twitching inside her. A screak parted her lips and Andy felt her wrist flicking rapidly between where her arced lower body met his. With quick reflexes he placed his open mouth across hers and let her climax turn into a whimper safe from Rusty's ears.

When she relaxed, he closed his mouth enough to kiss her lips, their gasps and pants making the connection bumpy. She wasn't even trying to respond yet, but he kept kissing her lips while he slipped out of her, then straddled her for a while before falling on his side beside her. His palms came to her chest and with one scoop each he spilled her breasts over their cups and started toying with them. Her slick fingers fell down her side and grazed his tired dick, eliciting one last twitch. They stuck to his lower abdomen and she started responding to his kisses, slowly and soft.

The fingers of Andy's right hand started making lazy circles across and down her stomach. She shuddered, her tongue slightly gagging. On the round his fingers accidentally brushed over her hidden clit, she almost choked on his kiss. Her eyes still closed and her arm slack, she fumbled to stroke him. Gently he removed her hand and placed it on his hip. He didn't need a hand job right now, it would be a lost cause anyway.

But she was still hot and sensitive as this time he purposefully let his fingers wander down her wet lower lips. Her kisses grew tighter, introduced sucking, and he slipped two fingers inside of her. Sharon offered him her hips, swallowing the two digits like they were nothing. He inserted the full length again three more times before coaxing in a third and proceeding to ram them in slowly but with demands. She choked on every jab and he let go of her lips to look down her body and his fingers entering her.

Her left nipple looked swollen and red: she had been ruthless with it. Bending his neck down, Andy kissed it, suckling a few times before smoothing the sting with his tongue at her whine. She was going to bruise, he thought. Prompted by the knowledge, he removed his fingers, returned only two, and placed his thumb below her clit and proceeded to tickle with the nail. Sharon gasped, hummed and searched for more contact with her hips. In counterpoint to the thumb's up and down movement, he curled his fingers inside of her and moved them slowly from side to side. Almost instantly her face flushed and her hums switched to whimpers.

"Shh," he tried reminding her again and stroked the side of his forefinger between her parted lips. Sharon shook her head and took the finger between her teeth before opening her eyes and looking at him with pleading.

Knowingly, he transgressed. He nosed her hair aside and whispered, "I love you."

In the middle of his statement she tensed, arced, whimpered. Her teeth buried into his flesh harder and with pride he realized he was going to see her coming over and over again in his mind for at least a few days every time he looked at his finger.

He let her tension fade until her muscles stopped gripping his fingers. At that point he curled them again, scissoring slowly. Her muscles retook to low tremble and his thumb returned to work. Her throat was full of plaintive squeaks and whimpers until he pressed his fingers hard and massaged her into another breathless arc. Now there was a groan and her muscles twitched uncontrollably, aggressively trying to find a rhythm they couldn't agree on, spasming and relaxing out of sync.

Sharon felt done in and Andy doubted the next orgasm, if at all possible, would be pleasurable. His fingers stroked her to calmness, letting her shake and grip and relax to the point his fingers could ease out of her almost without touching. Her pants were sighs and after a minute her teeth released his finger which She kissed on its way out.

There was moisture between her eyelids before Sharon opened them and smiled shyly. His hand ghosted over her blushed chest, between her loose breasts, down her abdomen and even gently over her slit before reaching for her thigh and pulling her fully on her side against him. He brought her fingers up to his lips and kissed them and, upon realizing they were still moist with her, took them in his mouth and licked them clean while she watched. Then he laid the hand under his head and in his hair, encouraging her to dry her fingers. She stared at him in question but hesitantly her fingers flexed.

"Yeah," he broke the silence with a sigh, "that was gorgeous." She started to comb his hair while he kissed her lips and returned her breasts in her bra. "Thank you."

Sharon giggled, a little self-conscious after being helped back into her clothes. "Enough of trains and tunnels symbolism for your sense of occasion?"

"Crude, Sharon, crude." Despite the mock-offended look Andy pulled her even closer, draping her thigh over his. Sharon sighed and started to relax while he kept stroking her cooling skin. She kept humming and sighing in contentment while he thought of the evening. All the fun and excitement with the kids, seeing his daughter and it all feeling so natural with her. Despite everything she said, Sharon was the root cause of so many good things in his life. Or at least the catalyst. She truly was on his side, a great friend. And okay, the sex wasn't half bad either, he thought with a smirk.

"So," Andy said startlingly loud when he felt Sharon's arm slacken against his side, "about trains."

"You want to talk about trains." She moaned and pulled his hair. "Now? Really?"

"It's you who wanted to know in the first place," he said defensively all the while stroking his fingers up and down her shoulder. She sounded sleepy which prompted him to grin and add, "Besides, I think now's a great time to talk about power and prowess. If you'd be so kind."

She groaned. "Yes, you're wonderful."

"Thank you," he said smugly and waited a few beats before softly continuing, "It's the romance, actually."

"What is?"

"Trains."

"Uh-huh."

"You don't care?"

"Right now, not especially."

Andy deemed the conversation a lost cause. Even sated and half asleep she wasn't up for a discussion on romance. He untangled himself from Sharon — earning a displeased hum — and released her feet from the shoes that started all this. They dangled from his fingers before softly landing underneath the bed. Sharon would have killed him if he didn't take care and he wanted to get back too well to go put the shoes in her closet. No, pushing them under the bed was as long as he wanted to be away from her, he thought as he edged back under her sprawling form.

At some point, when Andy was already slipping towards sleep, Sharon's practicality won over and she extracted herself to the bathroom. Andy barely dragged himself to the right side of the bed instead of laying down across it like they had been doing, swiped his clothes along with the comforter to the floor and fished out his boxers. Then he was ready for sleep.

"Andy?" Sharon said hesitantly some minutes later. He raised one lid. "Can I ask you something?"

His response was to offer a hand to pull her back into bed with him. Sharon took the hand with a smile and crawled on the bed but instead of flopping down beside him, she remained on her knees, looking down at him. With surreption Andy took her in: the messed up hair, the pale skin and the black underwear; then returned his eyes to hers. She looked surprisingly arch for someone who not ten minutes ago was on the verge of drifting off the sleep herself.

God, he loved the woman. If he wasn't as tired as he was (and if he weren't on the wrong side of thirty, maybe) he might take his hands all over that pale skin and suggest a second round with her doing all the work.

He reached a hand behind her head and pulled her in for a kiss. She came resisting, laughing, and only pecked his lips before pulling back a fraction of an inch to huskily ask, "So Andy, what is it with men and women's shoes?"


End file.
